■ Failures
Singapore takes tough line
Singapore's central bank stressed yesterday that it was prepared to let financial institutions fail and that consumers must be responsible for their investment decisions, clarifying its role as regulator of banks and other firms. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a policy statement that the responsibility to ensure financial institutions provide a safe investment option lies not just with the regulators, but with shareholders, creditors and industry associations. The document, titled Objectives and principles of financial supervision in Singapore, outlines the central bank's move toward a more risk-focused supervision of financial institutions operating in this wealthy Southeast Asian island nation from one-size-fits-all regulation.
■ Video editing
Matsushita, Apple team up
Japanese electronics giant Matsushita and Apple Computer Inc plan to market a digital video editing system that would simplify and lower the costs of making TV broadcasts, movies and DVDs, a major financial daily reported yesterday. The technology links Apple's Macintosh-brand computers and digital video-editing software to a soon-to-be-released Matsushita video recorder, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said. It would allow TV program producers, film studios and advertisers to churn out programs, ads and movies in the increasingly popular format that high-definition television sets and digital movie projectors use, the daily said.
■ Transport
China gets new train
China has launched a new train that cuts the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai by two hours, state press reported yesterday. The express train will now take 12 hours to complete the 1,300km trip, Xinhua news agency said. The Ministry of Railways has identified Beijing, Shanghai and southern Guangzhou as key lines for express routes, the report said. It said the ministry would aim to cut rail travel times on these lines further by upping train speeds next year to 200kph from the current 160kph. China is revamping and expanding its creaking and overloaded rail network, with plans afoot to build several new high-speed rail links, including a Beijing-to-Shanghai line. Japan, France and Germany are competing for the contract to develop a super-fast train connecting China's two main cities in a deal worth an estimated 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion).
■ Power
Vietnam builds plant
Construction has begun of a US$247 million hydro-electric power plant in Vietnam's central province of Phu Yen to alleviate electricity shortages in the impoverished region. The plant, which is located on the Ba River, will have a capacity of 220 megawatts and will be capable of producing over 825 million kilowatts of electricity annually. Work officially began on the Ba Ha project on Sunday and it is expected to be completed by 2007. It is one of 10 hydro-electric power plants planned for the Ba River. Two have already been constructed. State-owned Electricity of Vietnam has drawn up plans to build 32 power stations, including 20 hydro-electric plants, across the communist nation between last year and 2010 to meet energy shortages.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2